What's With the Joint Ticket Stuff?

Lately we've been reading all this stuff about a joint ticket -- Hillary hints at it, Bill says yeah its a great idea, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell proposes it. Notice that no Obama supporters are making this suggestion. Aren't you a curious about this? Why now?
I do admit that such a pairing looks attractive to a lot of people, but what's the purpose now? And more importantly, who do they suppose should be at the top of the ticket? I mean, if you've been listening to Hillary, Obama is high on charisma, short on ability and experience.
Here's what I think is happening -- maybe you agree, maybe you don't. Hillary knows the math as well as anyone. She knows she can't catch up to Obama. Even if you seated the Michigan and Florida delegations, she only won 50% in Florida and 56% in Michigan (where Obama wasn't even on the ballot). If you split things up proportionally, she wouldn't get more than a handful more, not nearly enough to over take him. So, who is she talking to? I think she's got her eye on the Superdelegates. She's trying to get them to put her on top, by pressuring Obama to take second seat. I can't see how she would want to be #2. And Obama can get much of what she brings from other possible veeps -- like Kathleen Sebelius or Janet Napolitano or Bill Richardson. I'm curious as to how others see this.

Comments

Bob, I believe there was a brief frenzy of "Dream Team" talk after the last Clinton-Obama debate before Super Tuesday. In my opinion, such a ticket would be more along the lines of fatal attraction.

Assuming Obama were on the top of the ticket, he could do much better than Clinton for VP, even if he limited his choices to prospective female candidates. Indeed, a true dream team would pair Obama with one of the combinations you mentioned above.

As for a Clinton-Obama ticket, I think Obama's talents will better serve America through continued service as a U.S. senator and, perhaps, another shot at the presidential nomination four, eight, twelve, or even sixteen years down the road. Though, this latter scenario is unlikely unless the superdelegates choose to blatantly ignore the choice of the voters or, of course, if Obama were to lose to McCain in the general election.

I think Clinton's behavior over the past week or two shows just how desperate she's getting and, more critically for the voting public, that her campaign is more about her than it is about seeking what's best for America or even the Democratic party. At this point, I think she's proven herself unworthy of the presidency, even if one does agree with her politics.

The challenge for Obama will be to keep his momentum going through a positive campaign while thwarting Clinton's dirty tactics (perhaps via the suggestions you posted yesterday). As nerve-wrecking as this drawn out campaign has been, I think--at least up 'till now--it's been positive for Obama as it's made him a tougher, more credible candidate and, personally, has alleviated many of my initial concerns about his inexperience. He's proven himself by running a smart campaign that has repeatedly outsmarted a very powerful and entrenched incumbent. If he can keep that up and defeat Clinton in Pennsylvania, he'll just be that much stronger as he takes on McCain.
Anonymous said…
I was happy to hear Clinton offered a joint ticket, this is going to be a close race and I think they combined in the White House would be a powerhouse. Though I am not sure about how I feel about Obama, I just do not find his name first of all settling for this country (though I am sure this has been joked about before with his first name, middle and last sounding or is like that of the country or enemies from the Middle East), to me Obama sounds like a major joke, as for his issues, again, I do not trust him and find him to be talking out his rear, this also goes for Clinton, but she at least has that fight in her that will give us the hope that this country needs after that crap Bush has pulled.
Robert Cornwall said…
Anonymous,

I don't know you -- and you've not revealed yourself -- so I have no clue who you are or where you stand on things. I don't like calling people bigots, but to say that you don't like his name because it is like our enemies, suggests that you believe Muslims or Africans, etc., are our enemies. We live in a nation of diversity, and with diversity comes diversity of names.

The issue with Clinton's discussion of a joint ticket is, in my mind a ploy to convince Superdelegates to overturn Obama's lead by promising to offer him the second spot. I don't for one minute believe she is interested in being Vice President.

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